Police might have upper hand on pay

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has returned from a successful first overseas trade expedition to face some domestic challenges.

Luxon’s tour last week took him to three Southeast Asian countries — Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines — where his business-focused view on politics would be very familiar. He must have been pleased at how things went, considering it was his first foray into the outside world beyond Australia.

After that the business of day-to-day governance might seem a little mundane, but there is plenty to keep him occupied in that sphere.

One of the first things will be the fact that police voted overwhelmingly to reject the Government’s latest pay offer and the dispute is now going to an independent arbitrator.

Support for the police and a determination to reduce crime was one of the cornerstones of National’s campaign in last year’s election, with Police Minister Mark Mitchell leading the way.

It is embarrassing for them both to be seen as a little scrooge-like in the present situation, in pay negotiations that have gone on for more than a year now. It also comes with a background of Queensland actively recruiting our police officers with offers of far better pay and conditions.

The Government’s latest offer added an extra $250 million to the total package but only 25 percent of Police Association members voted to accept it. One of the big sticking points is that the Government has declined the association’s request to backdate a new agreement to when the pay negotiations started.

Mitchell said that when you looked at the past three years, police had good increases above the level of inflation  — so “it was disappointing for us, given that we put our best foot forward”.

Some independent observers believe the police may have the upper hand in the arbitration process which will be heard by employment law specialist Vicki Campbell, a member of the Employment Relations Authority.

When a similar case was heard in 2021 the arbitrator ruled in favour of police, citing a unique and challenging work environment that could result in abuse, assault, serious injury or even potential death being present on a regular basis, and incurred purely in the course of carrying out an essential public service.

On the face of it nothing seems to have changed in the past three years but these hearings are always complicated and the situation is never exactly the same. Be that as it may, Luxon and Mitchell will want to get this issue behind them as soon as possible so the Government can get on with its mission of reducing violent crime, reducing child and youth offending, and keeping people safe.